The Real Reason the New York Islanders Traded Noah Dobson Revealed Publicly
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New York Islanders general manager explains the reasoning behind the trade of defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens, who immediately then signed him to an 8 year extension.
One of the very 1st major moves made by incoming New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche was the trade of defenseman Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens.
Immediately afterward, the Canadiens re-signed Darche to a new 8 year contract, while the Islanders received a pair of 1st round picks plus forward Emil Heineman.
But in Darche's mind, it doesn't mean his team is rebuilding.
Inside Mathieu Darche's First Major Move as Islanders GM
Darche indicated that he wanted to re-sign Dobson, but that his agent felt his value was higher than what was being offered. Darche then said that he remembered what he was told by his former boss with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Julien BriseBois, about taking emotions out of decisions.
People always think when you trade a player because you can't sign him to a contract, it's acrimonious, but there was never any animosity. I had a value that I thought was my threshold, the agent (Judd Moldaver) saw something else, and then instead of arguing, it was like, 'If you think you can get that deal somewhere else, let's work together to make that happen.' I wanted to keep the player, but at the end of the day, we couldn't agree to a contract. That's business. But there was never any argument. Both sides agreed to make the best of it.
The Islanders did not make the playoffs last season, which eventually led to former general manager Lou Lamoriello's departure from the organization he had run for the last 5 years as general manger and team president.
Dobson's production dipped considerably from 70 points (10G, 60A) in 2023-24 to just 39 points (10G, 29A) in 2024-25. In 388 career NHL games, Dobson has 231 points (50G, 181A).
The Canadiens also took a massive risk in signing him to franchise cornerstone-style money with an AAV (average annual value) of $9.5 million.
In his short time as Islanders GM, Darche has shown he's not afraid to make bold moves, and it's going to be up to the remaining Islanders players to make up for Dobson's absence as they try to get back to the postseason under coach Patrick Roy, entering his 2nd full year behind the bench.
